God is Never Too Late

 

Mark 5:21-43

Jairus’ Daughter and the Woman with Bleeding

There was a person named Jairus; he was one of the synagogue leaders. His position reveals that he is a religious leader, highly respected, affluent, and God-fearing.

However, when Jairus saw Jesus, he came and knelt at Jesus’ feet. He pleaded earnestly with Jesus, “My little daughter is dying, please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.”

Although Jairus had a prominent identity, he was willing to humble himself before Jesus. However, he already had an established mindset for he instructed Jesus how to cure his daughter.

After hearing his words, Jesus followed him anyway. A big crowd also followed and pressed around him. However, unexpected things always happen during critical moments, causing plans to suffer setbacks.

A woman who had been suffering from bleeding for 12 years appeared at this moment. This is a gynaecological disease which caused women to be ritually unclean and had to be isolated. 12 years was a long period of time to suffer under the hands of many doctors, even up to the point of exhausting all that she had. It was so sad that her condition did not improve, yet became worse.

We can imagine the heavy burden this woman was carrying! Yet, when she heard about Jesus, her hope was rekindled. She came up behind Jesus in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”

Who is this woman? She was in poverty, unnamed, unknown, and desperate. She and Jairus came from different backgrounds, but one thing they had in common: they came to Jesus to seek healing. Of course, they both have faith in Jesus.

Can Jesus help these two different kinds of people?

The woman literally squeezed into the crowd, touched Jesus’ cloak, and guess what happened? Her bleeding immediately stopped! She felt that her disease had been healed.

At the same time, Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?” His disciples answered, “You see the people crowding around you, and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’”

Jesus kept looking around to try and spot the woman who did it. The woman, knowing what had happened to her, became afraid because she touched Jesus’ clothes while she was unclean, which also could make Jesus unclean. She did not know that Jesus is filled by the Spirit and is able to cleanse the unclean, and at the same time will not be rendered unclean.

The woman, trembling with fear, came and fell at Jesus’ feet and told him the whole truth. Jesus said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

Actually, Jesus should be rushing to Jairus’ house, because his daughter was dying. But he stopped just to look for the person who touched his clothes and to publicly reveal the truth. As a doctor, this delay is a dereliction of duty. Jairus must be extremely anxious and could be grumbling in heart.

While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of the synagogue leader, saying, “Jairus, your daughter is dead, why bother the teacher anymore?”

Can you imagine Jairus’ emotions at that instant? But right in such a collapse state, Jesus ignored them, and said to the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

In actual fact, Jesus was asking Jairus to trust him, to have patience; there was no hurry in this matter. If you were Jairus, would you believe Jesus’ words? You could leave in anger, but you had just witnessed the healing of the woman suffering from bleeding, and this incident might help you believe in Jesus’ words.

Jairus’ plan was interrupted by the delay that Jesus caused, and it did not only result in the delay of the healing of his daughter, it also caused his daughter losing her life. Jairus’ hope was shattered!

We, the readers are curious to know; could Jairus have a turning point then? How can the mighty Jesus be so imprudent?

God’s mastery of time often makes us dismayed. Many a time, he does not operate according to our schedule and plans. God wants us to trust in him, be patient with him, and also accept the alternative plan that he provides for us.

Previously, when Jesus calmed the storm, Jesus is telling us that he allows storms to enter the lives of his followers, and this does not conflict with God’s grace and love. Here, he shows that the unreasonable delays and interruptions of life are also not in conflict with God’s grace and love.

God loves us; He knows when it is best to take action so that we can benefit the most. Under the providence of God, our lives can accommodate delays and interruptions.

Jesus brought Peter, James and John along with him to Jairus’ house. When they arrived, they saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. Jesus went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.”

And the crowd laughed at him. Jesus chased them all out, because they did not have faith. Jesus also did not want their unbelief to bring negative influence on Jairus.

Then Jesus took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went into where the child was. Jesus took her by the hand and said to her, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”

Jesus touched the dead body and not be defiled. But he gave life to dead bodies. He is a life-giving Lord, for Immediately, the girl stood up and began to walk around. And she was already 12 years old.

Everyone was completely astonished. Jesus later gave them strict orders not to let anyone know about this and told them to give her something to eat. Jesus had mercy and healed the woman who suffered from 12 years of bleeding. He also had mercy and healed the precious 12 years old daughter of the rich man.

Conclusion

We see that in this episode of Jesus’ delay and interruption, both Jairus and the woman had to pay a bigger price, and at the same time also received more than what they asked for. Let me explain:

Jairus asked Jesus to heal his dying daughter. He initially thought that it was sufficient for Jesus to reach his house on time. In the end, he had to wait until his daughter died, and still had to believe in Jesus’ words, that his daughter was only sleeping. The end result was that Jesus went to his house, raised his daughter from the dead, just like waking up from a deep slumber.

The woman suffering from bleeding thought that it was sufficient to muster up courage, squeeze into the crowd, and secretly touch Jesus’ clothes, but Jesus wanted her to publicly reveal her unending unclean bleeding.

By this, Jesus wanted her to understand that it is not right to secretly be healed and then leave. This will cause her to have the superstition that the ability to be healed is controlled by her.

Instead, Jesus wanted her to reveal the truth and her identity, in order for her to know that it is faith that healed her. This faith is the beginning of her relationship with Jesus, and her life had been changed since then. There is a very big difference between being healed due to a superstitious thinking, and having a life changing experience and then following Jesus.

Through publicly revealing the truth, Jesus also confirmed to the crowd that the woman had been cleansed, and they should receive her back into the community.

Today, when you seek help from Jesus, you also need to be mentally prepared; Jesus might ask from you more than what you are willing to give, however he will also give you more than what you have asked for or can imagine.

Therefore, surrender yourself to Jesus, trust and believe that he will make things right. Jesus will lavish his grace on you in front of everyone!

Application

Many times, we do not understand why God delays in taking actions. We panic when we face unexpected circumstances or misfortunes, even up to the point of complaining against God and losing faith in God.

We also feel discouraged and depressed because our plans are interrupted or suffer setbacks.

We might not realize that this attitude shows that we are arrogant. We are not God, yet we always think that we know and master “the method and time to solve the problem”. Therefore, God often use delays and interruptions in our lives to drive away our arrogance and self-righteousness.

Perhaps you have arrived at a stage now where your life has been interrupted by unexpected circumstances? What did God delay in your life? Did you feel depressed or despair? Are you going to give up? Have you lost patience with God?

The key is that you do not know the true and best solution and schedule. The true solution -- like Jairus and the woman suffering from bleeding – is to continue trusting in Jesus and to obey his commands, never give up. Then, you will receive beyond that which you have asked for.

Jesus arrived at Jairus’ house, and he knew that the girl has truly died, but yet he said that the girl is just asleep. Jesus went to her bedside, took her by her hand, and said to her, little girl, get up. This is an intimate way of calling, just like a mother holding her child’s hand and say, “Darling, time to get up!”

Jesus confronts death – human’s most ruthless mortal enemy – with full of power and held the girl’s hand and say, with me holding your hand, death is just like sleeping! Jesus’ actions and words not only are full of power, they are also full of love. When a mother holds the child’s hand, the child will surely feel that everything is fine.

Jesus is way more considerate than our earthly parents. Today, he still holds your hand and leads you through the darkest nights and valleys. He is the ruler of the universe, the Lord who set the stars in their place. When the time comes, he will say to you, “Darling, it’s time to get up.”

What gives Jesus the ability to hold your hands and lead us across the darkest valleys?

Paul in 2 Corinthians 13:4 says, “For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him in our dealing with you.”

Paul stressed that Jesus was crucified in weakness, in order that we might live by God’s power. Jesus became weak in order for us to become strong.

To a child, there is nothing more fearful than losing grip of the parent’s hand in a crowd or darkness. However, when Jesus carried the sins of the world on the cross, God the Father let go of his hand. Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Jesus died and descended into the dead so that we can break free from the chains of death. Jesus knew the fear of being separated from God, and that’s why once he holds our hand, he will never ever let go of us.

Jesus knows that there is only one way to the Crown of Glory, that is the way of the cross, and there is only one way towards resurrection, which is to experience death. He persevered and obeyed God the Father’s plan, step by step walking towards the cross, walked into hell and by that he became the salvation of the world.

Jesus’ healing of the woman suffering from bleeding is also a foreshadowing of his crucifixion – he lost power, in order that she gained power. He lost his life on the cross, in order that we may gain eternal life. Only through experiencing weakness and death can Jesus impart power and life into us.

We have such a powerful, loving and tender Lord. How can we give up without trusting him? How can we pester him without waiting for his guidance? How can we be impatient with him?